Cameron Diaz has gotten a corner on the romantic comedy market over the past decade, but is moving away from her million-dollar giggle and over to the dark side (or dramatic side, rather) in the upcoming film "My Sister's Keeper," in which she plays the mother of a leukemia-stricken girl. She recently opened up in PARADE about her new film, the loss of her father, getting older in Hollywood, children ... and her affinity for the opposite sex.

"I have an unbelievable life. In some ways, I have the life that I have because I don't have children. I don't think it's a compromise to have children. I don't think it's a compromise not to. I think it's just a different choice. People might say, 'That's bull. She actually really wants to have a baby.' My answer is, 'No! Everything I'm bringing into my life right now isn't geared toward that.'"

On not being a man-basher:

"Men are wonderful. I don't think my feeling about that is ever going to change. I'm never going to feel differently about men. I'm not a man-hater. It's just not in my nature. I think guys are amazing. I love the dichotomy, the differences in men and women. I think it's wonderful. It keeps things interesting. We can't walk in each other's shoes. We don't know what it's really like, but we certainly can make an effort to know each other a little bit better."

On having 'ugly days':

"Oh, sh-- yeah. I have them. I don't declare myself as one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. That's other people's label. I don't think that self-deprecation is healthy for people. I think you should have a healthy relationship with yourself. And so we all have our 'up' days and we all have our 'down' days. But I'm not going to walk through this world hating myself because somebody else doesn't think I'm pretty. All I can do is know how I feel about myself."

"I love it. Most people that I know who are living with somebody are complaining about how that other person is taking up their space, but I'm not that way. I love both. I love sharing my home. I'm a communal person. So I'm not like, 'Get out of my house.' I love having people in my home."

On getting older:

"I don't have a problem with growing older. I really don't. I have no problem with it. It's wonderful. Thank God we get older because if we're not getting older, we're dead. This is a much better option, to be getting older. And if we're not going forward, then we're stagnant, and we're stuck. And I've been stuck before. And I don't like it. It's not fun."

"My father passed away while I was in the middle of filming. I took time off to do what I had to do with my family. And then I had to go back to work. How it affected my performance I can't tell you, but certainly my father's death will be a part of me forever, and I'm sure it's going to be a part of all of the roles that I play now. It's been a year since he died, and it's been an incredibly transformative year. It's just something that's going to be with me forever."

Finding joy in sadness:

"In the film, my daughter is not always dying. Sometimes she's living. You have to celebrate that. The family has to find those moments, where we're like, 'She's alive and let's just take advantage of it.' The one thing I really love is that it's a love story on so many levels. It's all the things that we fall in love with in our lifetime - falling in love for the first time, parents falling in love with their children, children falling in love with their parents. We all fall in love with our parents."